Aur jho Ras~A Sindhi Curry

Human beings are really nasty…When a kid is supposed to act like a kid, he/she wants to be treated like an adult. And when finally one day, the little, cute kid had grown enough to take the worldly responsibilities, all he /she needs is to become a kid again and get pampered by the family. Sounds similar to your thoughts?? Well I don’t know about you, but I definitely, am a confused soul.While I was a sweet little kid (No giggling please…I was actually sweet, mind you…..), I hated those cheek pulling aunties and wished I grew up a little and when I did, I could only hear mom’s shrieks like…Don’t do that….Don’t sit like that….you can’t roam around the streets……girls are not supposed to settle scores with bully guys……why can’t you behave like a teenager girl etc etc. Uff! I again wished to grow up more so that I would be treated like a responsible lady, with no rules framed around me, for me , by the elders. I was a revolt…

Well, finally I was a bride to my groom and I thought I was now a free soul to make my rules (and bend them) and that gone are the days of elders shouting or fuming at me.

I was thoroughly pampered as a wife by my hubby, but alas it only lasted till our baby was born. After that I was no longer eligible for the bear hugs when I was upset, no ‘Sorry cards’ to pep up my mood after fights, no cuddling when nightmares hounded me, no silly sweet nothings murmured, no more walks hand in hand, no favourite foods of mine cooked for me (except by my mom who send in occasionally, my very favorite foods), no consoling when I was shattered with the mad things happening around.Now this wasn’t because people around me didn’t love me anymore…its just that now everybody expect a Mom of 7 year old to be a responsible, strong, mature lady, capable of handling EVERYTHING around her (Duh….). Yeah..I was finally a strong soul that I longed for….but as I said earlier, human beings are nasty….so now all that I crave for are simple gestures that brighten up a kiddie mind inside me.

Those teeny weeny candies given to me as a bribe to behave NICELY in front of relatives, those little dolls gifted, when I fair-ed well in exams, the ridiculously decorated birthday cards by friends, those not-so-costly but adored like gold, gifts by neighbors and friends, the GOOD or VERY GOOD remarks given by teachers in the notebooks when I wrote properly, those sweet hugs by parents when we did well in school, dear mother making my favorite dishes on my birthdays, and friends and neighbors surrounding me on that day, just to get some extra attention and maybe an extra chocolate (well honestly me too did same on their birthdays…lolz)……I miss those sweet pamperings so much.

Well as they say, nothing remains same forever, so now its our kid’s turn to be pampered as we were, by our parents. Not that I am complaining, but sometimes the kid inside you budge its head and you feel like grabbing some more attention, some more applauds, some more bribes (not monetary of course) from the people around you.

So while I ranted about all this, I simultaneously pampered my self, in absence of anyone else to do the honours. And what better for a foodie blogger than to cook something for herself ??

To begin with, one of our neighbour…. Aunty K,who was a very enthusiastic lady, never tired of daily chores, a wonderful cook and a jolly fellow, always made some simple but drool worthy food and would make a point to send a share to our home (my maternal family). My mother actually learnt sabudana khichdi, potato toasters, Idly sambhar etc from that graceful lady. Alas, Aunty K, is no more with us. But she still stirs some great memories and specially reminds me of a Sindhi kadhi (no not the usual one) which used to be the most tasty kadhi I ever had at her place.

Sindhis,as any other caste are divided further in sub castes and one among them is CHAAPRU. I found their mannerisms more similar to Gujratis or Kutchis, than Sindhis. Don’t know the truth, its just my observation for that one family. And a typical, traditional chaapru kadhi called AUR JO RAS is what I made for myself.The reason being that no one else in family is interested in that, so I just ended up cooking for myself and enjoying alone.I slurped two bowls of this Kadhi and skipped my lunch as well as dinner.No marks for guessing how much I relished that taste and those moments of being ME,with ME, for Me 🙂

So today I share with you, yet another authentic Sindhi Kadhi, and the recipe is of Aunty K’s father -in-law, respectfully called as Baba.

Aur jho ras is nothing but a tangy curry, dominated by the flavors of garlic and mustard seeds and spiced up with just green chillies and tamarind.The USP of this dish is the besan roll, do not skip the rolls, as they actually add a wonderful dimension to the flavors of curry

53 thoughts on “Aur jho Ras~A Sindhi Curry”

Hai Alka, was looking at your recipe of Aur Ji Baaji and it brought back memories of my mother cooking for us and as kids we relished it with delight. The recipe that I learnt from my mother is a little different. She used to add ginger and garlic (pounded), diced onion and put it to boil without sautering it. She used potatoes, maayoo instead of radish and sometimes varyun. Once these were almost cooked then add kookum, and besan paste with turmeric,salt, red chilli powder and add this to the curry ,also she used to add chopped green chillies. Simmer for awhile. Heat a little oil and temper mustard seeds and add to the pot of gravy, cover and put out the heat.

hi have been looking fr ds recipe mom was an excellent cook n love her aur ki bhaji as she would call it sindhi food has been forgotten even the aunties pretend not to know of it today given free time was browsing fr sindhi recipes n found ds n omg so happy it does exist will def try it hv saved d recipe n love ur statement from me to me for me cute n thanks a ton miss moms food miss her thanks
pooja

i honestly loved the way you went about describing the curry. sounded wonderful.. havent tried it yet but will love to with ur enthusiasm. your recipes are excellent and you really brought the sindhi cooking to other households. thanks.

Hi Alka, Enjoyed reading. I also love to be pampered, but after marriage they really treat us matured and lots of responsoiblities. Nice curry, we use raddish sambhar only, sounds freat. Lovley colour.

I can totally related some of the missing… with you and i do have 7 years old kid who stole all my pampering part!
I made yest radish sambar, Sindhi food re totally different, Love the color of ur dish!

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. Collecting words to write down here…. Many a times i too feel so…….. Coming to the recipe. Looks tempting, alluring and yum. Simply yum…….

Due heavy power cuts i could not see the roundups… Just now got throught the yummy entries. Hats off to you for coming with the idea of event and organising everything……Gr8. Awesome and glorious roundup…..

You were speaking for almost every woman in this world. I think we all want a little pampering once in a while … and rightly so … coz women all over the world work so hard to keep everything going smoothly and to bring smiles on the faces of their loved ones. 🙂
Great writing Alka! And this recipe is new for me …gotta try oneday. 🙂

oh yes, u r my bichidi hui behna from kumbh ki mela 😉
i was penning down same thoughts for next post and glad to see there is someone who thinks exactly like me! beautiful write-up alka and i really enjoyed reading it.

So true so true… OOfff I need some pampering now.. yeah right I guess i need to go & do it myself. U share some real great mouthwatering recipes. dekh kei muh mein pani ata hain, irrespective of when I am reading it:-)

An authentic dish and wonderful picture. As for the post I couldn’t help giggling when I read about cheek pulling aunties… 🙂

There is an onslaught of non Sindhi dishes on TV food shows using different spices, Sindhi cuisine is simply the best.

Watching TV one day I came across some footage of the people living in Thar who eat mariro muthias (vegetable Trailing Amaranth) which grows automatically when it rains. (Muthia means an oval shaped ball of this vegetable (they boil mariro and just add salt and a little bit of red chilis , and give it gheh jo daagh). Their maanis are always made of Bajhri (Bajra or Pearl Millet). which grows automatically in Thar and is also planted, its a lot stronger than the wheat, hence good for them. Desert folk need a lot of energy going up and down sand dunes…

Bullseye, Alka!! I could do with some pampering too – only they know they have pampered me too much these last few days so if I complain I will get all the reprimands a little kid does!! I know the pain chubby cheeks cause having been at the receiving end too but at least I don’t pull my neighbour’s kid’s cheeks – they are chubby and rosy. Maybe the kid will love me for that when she grows:) I like the unusual combo! I have only made sambar with mooli but this sounds delish!

Thanks alot for a wonderful recipe,I’ve had this in Mumbai at a Sindhi friends place and cud never look for a recipe as i had forgotten the name.Superb..looks wonderful Alka.Coming to your writeup,i can totally relate to you for the first bit.I have chubby cheeks right from the time i was a kid,my neighbours would always pinch my cheeks and i wud get irritated,it is so painful:-(.Now i wish i was a kid and get all the attention.Not that i dont now,am very well pampered by my husband,my parents,my inlaws but still the best attention i’ve got is only as a kid……i wish there was a rewind button in life..wat say????

Thanks alot for a wonderful recipe,I’ve had this in Mumbai at a Sindhi friends place and cud never look for a recipe as i had forgotten the name.Superb..looks wonderful Alka.Coming to your writeup,i can totally relate to you for the first bit.I have chubby cheeks right from the time i was a kid,my neighbours would always pinch my cheeks and i wud get irritated,it is so painful:-(.No i wish i was a kid and get all the attention.Not that i dont now,am very well pampered by my husband,my parents,my inlaws but still the best attention i’ve got is only as a kid……i wish there was a rewind button in life..wat say????

i totally agree with what you say .. I totally love getting pampered .. when you get married, ppl treat you like a grown up & think pampering is silly .. I love the dish you have made .. Am gonna try it sometime

If you do not like besan, you may use wheat flour to make “doklis”. Talking of “Chhaprus”, they speak different dialect which many “Sindhis” cannot understand and is different from normal Sindhi language or even kutchi/Gujrati language. They always form their own Residential society and always married in their “Chhapru” caste.
Now recently they have changed. Many have learnt to speak normal Sindhi and also inter-caste (Sindhi) marriages take place. Good thing is that they fully understand Sindhi language but many find it difficult to understand their “Chhapru” language. Many use Chhapru as their surnames.

Alka, wonderful curry and a wonderful read as always. Talk of Sindhis reminds me of my aunt’s neighbors who were sindhis. The aromas and smells wafting from their kitchen were alien but so new and tasty but different from the smells of kitchens I have knows so much so I was always visiting my aunt on one pretext or other.

Alka,a very nice read..even i have same experiences..But the understanding and realising point of ours matter..I loved every scentence you have written here..
And this sindhi curry is new to me..But looks colorful and yummy..Wondeful click as always.

I love to have some moments as you mentioned .. Being Me,With Me,For Me. I feel once in a while you need to pamper yourself. Also most of us tend not to cook the dish which is not favored in the family but us and don’t bother to cook if its the other way round.